Cheemia, which creates business development strategies for private and public healthcare organisations, including the NHS, gets off to a flying start following ongoing support from Business Gateway Edinburgh.
Cheemia, which launched in April last year, is the brainchild of Mehrnaz Campbell who has 27 years in the health and pharmaceutical industry.
After lengthy research and attending various Business Gateway Edinburgh workshops and receiving ongoing one-to-one support from her adviser, Mehrnaz developed a business model which would help health organisations save money, time and resources and support local projects which promote and address health and social inequality.
Bikes for Refugees (Scotland), a charity that refurbishes and distributes donated bikes to refugees and asylum seekers across the country, which is supported by cyclist Mark Beaumont, was the first project to receive a £1,500 donation.
Mehrnaz said: “When I set up Cheemia it was really important from the outset to have a social give-back element to the business model, which was great to discuss and work through with my adviser at Business Gateway Edinburgh.
“I’m so impressed by the great work that Bike for Refugees carries out to help families integrate more easily in the community, which is why I decided to donate funds to allow them to be able to help even more families.
“I’m delighted that my business is continuing to grow and meet customer and commercial goals, which will allow me to help even more charities and projects in the future.”
Susan Harkins, Head of Business Gateway Edinburgh, said: “At Business Gateway Edinburgh our advisers are beginning to see more and more companies include social give-backs in their business plans to create a positive social change in the community, which is commendable, especially for start-up businesses.
“It’s been great to follow the successful launch of Cheemia and to see that Mehrnaz has fulfilled her goal to be able to make a financial contribution to local charity in her first year of trading.”
Bikes for Refugees was set up in 2016 by Stephen McCluskey with the aim of helping refugees and asylum seekers facing extreme financial difficulties to be able to integrate more easily into the community and access services and support, with over 400 bikes donated to date.
Stephen McCluskey, founder of Bikes for Refugees, said: “We are always very grateful of the wide public support we receive from across Scotland and were particularly excited to have been contacted by Mehrnaz at Cheemia to receive our first corporate donation from the business sector.
“The support from Mehrnaz will go a long way towards helping refugees and their families to settle into their new communities and homes. Every penny goes towards helping to refurbish and distribute bikes which help people to connect with essential services and to meet other people and make new friends.
“We can’t thank Mehrnaz enough for her support – it means a great deal to us and the people we help, and we look forward to continuing our relationship and friendship in the years to come.”
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
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